congress. >> we are back with msnbc's special coverage of the fiscal cliff talks and that was democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia on the floor of the senate earlier speaking on the state of negotiations. joining me now, congressman tom cole, deputy majority whip in the house of representatives. good to see you, congressman. >> good to see you. >> does joe manchin have a point? >> no, of course not. quite frankly, we've gotten big deals done with the president before. the budget deal in april of 2011, the debt ceiling deal, the free trade agreements, the student loan, the transportation. but the negotiations have always been hard, tough, contention, for two reasons, two sides fundamentally disagree. second, quite honestly, democratic friends particularly the president never gotten serious about spending cuts. if they get all of the revenue they ask for won't come close to dealing with the fiscal issue. >> well, clearly democratic colleagues have a different view of that. let me play what chris van hollen said a short time ago. >> so far, speaker boehner has been held captive a